Time of Our Lives
by Special Agent Tee-vah
Summary: "I never said anything. Nothing obvious, at least. Yet, Ziva, was it not obvious enough when I told you that I couldn't live without you? I didn't mean that in a 'You're my partner and without you having my back I'd probably be dead' way."


**Hey guys! Okay, so I wrote this while I was waiting for my passport and during lunch today, haha. Total of…3 hours, and this was the product of my music listening and boredom. I'm honestly not very sure about this one, so let me know what you guys think?**

**HEADS UP THOUGH GUYS, BEFORE YOU READ THIS STORY: Please listen to Time of Our Lives, by Tyrone Wells while reading this! I was listening to that while I was writing this [and for the first time ever, I wanted to cry while writing], and I think that it honestly does change this story. Just loop the song, haha.**

**Anyways, read and enjoy!**

* * *

He hasn't forgotten her. Neither has she forgotten him.

Au contraire, they talk every day. They can't see each other face to face, so they settle for the next best thing. Every night, when he gets home from work, he goes onto his computer and onto Skype, where he finds her waiting patiently for him.

It's a routine, and he can't imagine this changing.

He misses her, and she misses him, that's obvious enough. When they first started their late night chats, there was always this spark in her eye. Happiness, excitement, longing, and (dare he say it?) love. They talk about the simplest of things - they talk about their day, about what they plan on doing the next day; they talk about anything, and they never run out of topics. Come the end of their chat, a couple of hours later, the spark in her eyes begins to dim, and she just looks...sad. She looks nostalgic, she looks like she wants to say something oh so badly, but can't bring herself to.

Recently, though, he realizes that he doesn't even see the spark anymore. From start to end, she just looks wistful and sad.

Then one night changed everything.

* * *

"Tony?"

"Yeah, Ziva?" He asks softly, and she smiles. He's looking at her, and he's talking to her as if she'll disappear the next moment, or she's the last thing he'll see. It's as if he's taking in every last detail, as if he's never seen something quite so...breathtaking.

It's almost physically painful, but she knows she has to do this, for the both of them.

"What... What are we doing, Tony?" And for the first time he looks worried.

"What're you talking about?"

"I mean this, Tony. Talking every night for hours on end."

"I'm keeping my partner with me."

"You have Bishop now, remember? She's your partner now." He gives her a flat look, and she stares back challengingly.

"This... Tony, this is not healthy. This is not good for either of us. We're clinging onto a partnership that ended, what for? You fly to Israel to see me for what, two, three days every now and then, then you go back home. I know that kills us both. To only be able to see someone face to face a few days a month, if not every few months, after seeing then every day for eight years straight."

"What would you rather I do?"

"We need to let go, Tony. Accept what has happened, and move on."

"How the hell, Ziva," he growls, and she's taken aback by his rather evident anger, "_how_ exactly do you expect me to do that? To let go, to move on from this?"

"Why are you trying to hold onto this so hard?!" She's exasperated at this point.

"_Why should she have the man she loves when she took mine from me?_" He quotes, and she furrows her eyebrows at him, staring at him strangely.

"What?"

"It's quite amazing, David. This girl that you knew when you were a child could tell, but you don't see it."

"I... I don't-"

"Think about it this way. Let's say, hypothetically speaking, that the man that loves you has lost you so many times, and now that there's this one time where suddenly, it's a frighteningly real possibility that he might actually never see you again. What do you think he would do?" He laughs; a quiet, bitter laugh.

"I didn't know, Tony."

"Of course you didn't, I never said anything. Nothing obvious, at least. Yet, Ziva, was it not obvious enough when I told you that I couldn't live without you? I didn't mean that in a 'You're my partner and without you having my back I'd probably be dead' way." She's staring at him, her eyes full of emotion. Of pain, of regret, and of love.

"Tony, I-"

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Ziva. I gotta go." Without even a goodbye, he ends the call and logs off.

* * *

It's been a week since their argument, and they haven't spoken since. She calls him every night, but not once does he pick up. She knows he sees her calls; he's always online, he just refuses to answer.

Suddenly, they find that it's almost Christmas, and the team has their Christmas dinner at his house. Abby and McGee leave early, saying something about bowling with nuns. Gibbs leaves a little after, saying that he needs to leave soon if he wants to reach his dad's house by Christmas.

He ignores Bishop, the last person in his apartment, and grabs a bottle of whiskey. He slumps down on his couch, and stares at his computer. For the first time, he notices that she's not online. He forces himself to look away, and continues to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

It's not long before he's inebriated, and Bishop's left to take care of him. He's about to pass out on the couch when she pours a glass of ice water on his face, sighs, and orders him to go and get cleaned up. As he gargles mouthwash in the bathroom, his phone rings and Bishop's left to pick it up.

"Hello? No, he's kind of busy right now. Can I take a message?" At this moment, he walks back outside and collapses back onto the couch.

"What would I do without you?" He slurs, smiling. She glares at him, motioning for him to keep quiet, and mouths the words, "_you'd be halfway to Israel_".

"What was your name again? Zi-Zira? Ziva? Oh okay, sure. I'll let him know when he's not drunk off his ass." Suddenly he's alert, and it's as if he was never drunk to begin with.

"Give me the phone." The moment she hangs up, he grabs the phone and checks the last number that called.

An American number.

He dials back, and the call is picked up almost instantaneously.

"Hel-" he cuts her off immediately. She sounds distracted, so he assumes that she hadn't checked her caller ID. He's pretty sure that she wouldn't have picked up if she had seen his number.

"Ziva David, if you walk away and hang up the phone right now, _I swear._" He's looking out the window, and he sees her standing there, just about to step into a cab, and she freezes, and slowly turns around.

"I told you to move on. Besides, you have Bishop now, right?" He can't help but smile at the bitterness in her voice when she says Bishop's name.

_Is she...jealous?_

"You get your ass back up here right now, David." She hesitates before taking the steps back into the apartment block. He sounds like he's teasing her, but she knows exactly how serious he is.

When she reaches his apartment, the door swings open and she's engulfed in his arms.

"_Oh my god, you're here._ You're actually here." His words are muffled into her curly hair, and she nods as best as she can, considering she's buried in his chest.

Next thing she knows, his lips are on hers, and when they part, she never wants to let him go.

She doubts he would let her, anyways. Now that she's home.

He leads her into the apartment, and tenses slightly when she sees Bishop casually lounging around on his couch, watching them awkwardly.

"Ziva, this is Bishop, my partner. Bishop, this is Ziva, the woman I love that ditched me for self-discovery." He winks, and she punches him lightly in the arm.

"Hi..." Bishop stands up and holds out her hand, and he laughs.

"See, I told you she was awkward." Bishop glares at him, and pokes him hard.

He smiles at her, before turning to grin at the woman nestled comfortably under his arm.

Now that he has her, he's not letting go.

She's staying with him, where she belongs.

* * *

_This is where the chapter ends_

_And new one now begins_

_Time has come for letting go_

_The hardest part is when you know_

_We say goodbye, we hold on tight_

_To these memories that never die_

* * *

**So, how did you guys find this? I hope you guys enjoyed it, and leave a review and let me know what you think? I really would appreciate that. Anyways, I'm gonna go now, I'm gonna go get some work done now [9:45 PM, and I want to get my bio notes done by, hopefully Sunday, and I need to make myself re-understand Trig for math].**

**Also, I know I promised that I'd upload more stories, but I never realized how little time I had! School ended for the year, and a week later I left for Eastern Europe on a school trip [but hey! I was in Berlin] and I came back about two weeks ago. Since then, I've been studying for my revision tests in the beginning of next year [I need to ACE them], and I honestly never managed to find the time to write. [I was going to in Europe, but jetlag and losing my earphones interfered with my plans]. I know it's not really an excuse for my absence, but I'll try to upload whenever I can, I promise! I know though that odds are, next year I'll be absent for most of the year; I'll be taking my GCSE O's. Anyways, I'll see you guys soon, hopefully, with another new story! See you!**

**xx,**

**Manda**


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